Chapter 262: Uncomfortable Truths

 LYN   "No matter the cost," Lake confirmed, meeting Zade's eyes without flinching. "Even if it meant going through every person in this room."   "You're a child," Thorne pointed out, his tone reasonable. "Enhanced abilities or not, you're still just a kid."     Lake's smile was sharp and completely devoid of humor. "Andy made sure I was a very capable child. Don't make the mistake of underestimating me because of my age."     The threat was implicit but clear----Lake might be young, might be recovering from a coma, but he was still dangerous. Still someone who could and would hurt people if he deemed it necessary for Riley's safety.     I should have been terrified. Should have been demanding that he be locked up or sent away or contained somehow. But instead, I found myself feeling a strange sort of understanding.     Lake's worldview had been shaped by years of manipulation and abuse, by being taught that his only value lay in protecting someone else. Of course he'd developed this k